Cash is losing its dominance of British retail in the face of ever-increasing competition from online shopping – according to a British Retail Consortium Survey.
This found that cash still accounts for 54 per cent of UK transactions in 2012, although this represented a 10 per cent decline on the previous year as its share of total money spent and number of transactions fell for the first time.
It also found that credit card use fell by 3.4 per cent and debit card use rose by 3.2 per cent.
Helen Dickinson, director-general of the BRC, commented: “New ways to pay and new ways to shop are shaping the retail landscape like never before.
“Changing customer preferences are driving the increase in debit card use – they’re helping people to manage their money better and are a natural fit for online shopping and self-service checkouts.”
UK retail sales have been falling at their fastest pace in over a year during the past month according to the Confederation of British Industry, squeezed by anaemic wage growth and high inflation.